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Recipe: Chicken ‘kebab’ with potato wedges + yoghurt sauce 🥘

I was asked to participate in a local TV show which involved trying (and in my case re-creating) typical takeout foods. Say yes, regret later.

The programme consists of judging local takeaway eateries and then a guest chef re-creates a healthier alternative. Each week has a different theme and a different guest chef; I was hoping for pizza but alas I got kebab week. Nonetheless I was up for the challenge and did my own take on a kebab by doing a chicken edit with homemade oven-baked potato wedges + yoghurt sauce.

Join me in making this re-creation and follow these easy steps:

MARINATING THE CHICKEN.

Usually I don’t really measure my ingredients when doing a recipe for the first time, I like to experiment freely and then re-work the measurements after. But this one worked so well, I want to guide you through everything I used. Feel free to add more (or less) of any of the ingredients as you prefer.

3 Large chicken breasts, sliced lengthways*
1/4 Cup olive oil
3-4 Tbsp smoked paprika
3-4 Tbsp bbq seasoning
1/4 Tsp Cayenne or chilli powder
3-4 Tbsp Garlic Powder
2-3 Tbsp italian herb seasoning
salt to taste

Toss it all in a bowl, rub all the herbs and spices into the chicken breasts – use your hands and get messy. Then, set aside and leave marinating while you prepare potato wedges.

Tip: marinating in advance gives the chicken more flavour. You can also use chicken thighs for a more authentic chicken kebab flavour as thighs tend to have a higher fat content and will add a bit more flavour to the skewers.

LETS MAKE POTATO WEDGES.

First, turn oven on and set to 170-180 degrees C then get these ingredients:

1 Jar of cooked potatoes (400g drained)
2 Tbsp garlic granules
1 tbsp italian seasoning
Drizzle of olive oil
salt to taste

Slice potatoes into wedges, and marinate them with your remaining ingredients – again use your hands (its the best way). Line a baking tray with greaseproof baking paper and lay your wedges onto them without any overlapping. Set aside.

Tip: Did you know that cooked potatoes sold in jars have better calorie and carb content than normal cooked potato? Don’t believe us? Check it out for yourself! The brand that we used here, in comparison to normal cooked potatoes was HALF the carbs per 200g. HELLO POTATO PARTY.


PREPARE THE CHICKEN KEBABS.

Grab some skewers, I used metal ones but the wooden ones will be fine just make sure you soak them in water beforehand so that they don’t burn in the oven. Then ‘needle’ the skewer through each piece of breast and place over a deep dish like so:


COOKING TIME

Place the wedges on a higher tray of the oven and chicken on a lower tray as you don’t want your chicken to burn before it cooks. Cook in the oven for approximately 40 minutes. However, halfway through you will need to swap chicken to a higher level – when you do this pour the juices that have fallen into the tray over the chicken. If there isn’t much there, then pour a drizzle of olive oil and place back into oven, on a higher tray.

Note: the chicken might create some smoke so be wary of this when you open the oven (especially if the smoke detector is right above it like mine – oops).

DONT FORGET THE SAUCE

While the chicken and wedges are cooking, prepare the sauce:

100g Non-fat greek yoghurt or queso batido desnatado
Drizzle olive oil
1 Tbsp agave nectar (or honey)
1 Tbsp garlic granules
1 Tbsp italian herbs
1 Tsp cider vinegar or lemon
salt to taste

Whisk it all together until combined and done. Set aside.

TIME TO EAT.

Once chicken and wedges are ready, remove from oven.



With a tea towel grab the end of the skewer and using a serated knife – slice chicken downwards. Transfer onto plate, add potato wedges, yoghurt sauce and side salad. Or for the TV show I made them into wraps – delicious any way you prefer it!

Hope you enjoy this recipe, or if you watched me on the show… hope you enjoyed my awkwardness – at least the mask covered the one spot that decided to make an appearance the day before.

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You can watch the show here.

Recipe: Peanut Pancakes 🥜

10pm is a great time to make yourself pancakes, right?

After eating light all day, 10pm came along and I was hungry – cue pancakes. As with most recipes, i chucked loads of ingredients in a bowl and hoped for the best.

This was the outcome:

Ingredients:
6 Tbsp peanut powder
(They also sell this one in Morrisons)
20g Whey protein powder
(I recommend the one in shopping list below OR this one by Bulk)
2 Tbsp xylitol (or granulated sweetener of choice)
30g Ready Brek porridge oats
1 Tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
3 (L) egg whites
3 Tbsp milk of choice

Shopping list here.

Method: Just like I did, chuck it all in a bowl and mix until everything is combined.

Leave your mix to a side (let the oats and peanut powder soak in) and heat a non-stick pan to medium heat. Be patient and wait for it to properly heat up, don’t be tempted to increase heat because this is just going to burn your pancakes. Trust.

Then, using a low-cal spray oil, make your pancakes. Pour table-spoonfuls of mix onto pan – leave to cook several minutes and flip. Repeat for entire mix.


Stack them up and enjoy! With some ‘Better than Snickers Spread’ maybe? I added some berries too! How will you have yours?
Hope you enjoy them, don’t forget to tag/share if you make them 🙂

Exclusive discount on iherb with code: JCB887

Recipe: Roasted Red Pepper Salad Dressing 🥗

Worth it for the smell of roasted red peppers in your kitchen, aside from the fact that it tastes amazing ofc.


I was craving a huge salad and by huge i mean the kind where you add everything except the neighbours cat. Tired of plain ol vinegar and equipped with some fresh red peppers, i decided to make my own dressing.


Heres what I did:

Ingredients:
2 large red bell peppers
1.5 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Chopped onion + 1 tbsp frozen garlic – sautéed
1 Tbsp agave nectar
1 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
Salt & Pepper to taste
You will also need a handheld blender/ food processor

Method:
First you will need to roast your peppers:
1. Slice them in half and place face down on a lined baking tray.
2. Spray or spread 1/2 tbsp olive oil over them.
3. Bake @ 200 degrees C for 20 minutes until softened.
4. Place on a plate and cover with a bowl, so the peppers can ‘sweat’ for 15 minutes. Alternatively, you can put in a bowl and cover with a plate. This process is done so that you can easily peel the skin off the peppers.
5. Remove skin and place into your blender jug.

Then:
Add all the remaining ingredients and blend until everything is combined.


Voila, done. Pour over your salad and enjoy 🙂

Or you can try my Healthified Caesar Sauce instead, its super yummy too!

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Thank you for reading!

Review: Menstrual Reliever✨

What do women want more than roses and romance? Not having to deal with unbearable period pains.

Honestly though, if you’re stuck on what to get on Valentines Day for that special lady in your life… this is it and i’m here to tell you why:

Firstly, what is it?

The menstrual/ period pain reliever designed by Beurer offers an alternative remedy for severe menstrual and endometriosis cramps that does not involve medication – treating it in a targeted manner. You place it on the skin underneath your tummy and you can wear it discreetly at home or at work (yay).

How does it work?

It has two functions which can be used solo or combined: soothing heat and TENS treatment (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) increasing up to 15x intensity levels.

Whats does TENS do?

TENS is a method of pain relief involving the use of mild electrical currents. The electrical impulses are delivered through electrodes located in adhesive pads that stick to your skin, flooding the nervous system and reducing the ability to transmit pain signals. The same impulses also stimulate the body to produce natural pain relievers called endorphins.

Personal experience:

I was really sceptical at first! I could not imagine anything helping my excruciating period pains – after all not even tramadol would relieve my pain on bad days. But, me writing this post is evidence enough of how much I loved it because I would have not written it otherwise.

The heat option is not as scalding as a hot water bottle would be (those who know bad period pains will understand this) BUT the fact that you can walk around with this comfortably underneath your clothes with heat applied to the sensitive area is good enough imo.

When only heat option is on light is green (shows white in img)

The TENS option on the other hand is what makes this a MUST buy. The settings are adjustable by means of higher/ lower buttons and can reach high levels of intensity (think belly shaking type of intensity). The electrodes come within two patches which you place on your lower tummy, the pulses are delivered with variating rhythms and increasing intensity – basically it makes your lower tummy vibrate and helps soothe the discomfort.

Replaceable sticky pads for ease of use

It automatically goes off after 20mins so you don’t have to worry about it staying on if you wear it to sleep for example. I even tried this at work and it was a pleasure, considering I’m on my feet all day it wasn’t uncomfortable.

When using both heat + TENS both lights go on


I got this as a gift but pricing varies between £40-£50 depending on where you purchase. They have it available locally at Pure Wellness (opposite Star Bar) or you can get it delivered from them via Rock Hero app, alternatively you could find it online but I’d much rather buy local where possible.

Does it actually work!?

I posted this on my instagram and the most common question was ‘Does it ACTUALLY work???’ – so to summarise: yes, it does. I wouldn’t say it completely removes the pain but it DOES provide an immense sense of relief from the discomfort of period pains. Worth every penny.

This post is not sponsored and is a real review based on personal experience, I would not recommend products that I don’t use or wouldn’t buy myself.

Hope you enjoyed this review and enjoy this product as much as I do 🙂

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Recipe: Carrot Cake Jam

Recipe ideas are usually born from (unexpected) cravings for something, evolves into brainstorming on a piece of paper (old school i know) and then it escalates into a full blown idea storm.

In this instance, fresh off creating this Carrot & Apple Cake, I was inspired by warm and wintery spice flavours + wanted to offer a new waffle combo for The Muscle Bakery.

Voila, carrot cake jam was born.

Ingredients:
450g Carrots (can use frozen too)
400g Can of pineapple in its own juice
3 Apples (cut into small cubes)
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Cup Agave nectar (light)
1/2 Cup water
2 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 Tbsp Mixed spice
1/3 Cup chia seeds
1/2 Cup grated carrot

Method:
Put all your ingredients except chia seeds and grated carrot, into a medium-larger size saucepan and bring to a boil. Then, reduce heat and leave it simmering for approx 15 minutes (until apples and carrots have softened).

With a handheld blender, blitz everything to a pulp – leaving some texture rather than blending it till it is smooth.

Fold in chia seeds + grated carrot and leave simmering on very low heat, turning occasionally for approx 10-15 minutes. You want the chia seeds to soak up all the moisture and ‘gel’ all the ingredients together.

Leave to cool completely, i let it cool in the saucepan but you can transfer into jars and leave unopened until cooled.

This will taste nicer as the days go by when all the flavours settle together.

We enjoyed ours on some waffles (taste testing purposes ofc) but can’t wait to try it with some toast and nut butter – or even some french toast mmmm.

Don’t forget to tag / share if you try this recipe, we love to see! 🙂

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Recipe: Caesar Salad Sauce (+ vegan subs) 🥗

Did you know Caesar sauce usually has anchovies? I didn’t and let me tell you I WAS SHOOK.

Dont get me wrong, I have nothing against anchovies but I don’t like them and just knowing that they reside in Caesar Salad sauces – I just can’t do it. So, I made up my own recipe, which happens to be healthier and high in protein too. FTW.

Heres how you make it (with vegan subs):

Ingredients:
4-5 Tbsp non-fat greek yoghurt
For vegan option use Alpro ‘Greek’ style
1 Tbsp Hellmans really light mayo
For vegan option you can use vegan mayo OR more yoghurt
10g Dijon mustard
40g Parmesan
For vegan option use Violife ‘Parmesan’
3 Tbsp milk of choice
1 Tsp garlic powder
1 Tsp olive oil
1 Tsp lemon juice
Salt & pepper to taste

Method:
Theres not much to it, put all your ingredients into a blender and blitz until smooth. Alternatively you can use a hand held blender too.

Note: add more milk if you prefer it runnier.


I made my salad with these delicious Chicken Goujons, pan-fried cooked ham (tastes like turkey bacon and is the best bacon hack you’ll ever try), crumbled melba toast and goats cheese cubes. Was absolutely delicious and felt like we were having a restaurant dinner 😛

Dont forget to tag / share if you try it! 🙂

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How to: Pizza Omelette 🍕

You had me at pizza.

Pizza is often seen as a taboo food item, comprised of all the ingredients that are seemingly seen as ‘bad’. But, is pizza bad? Not really. Eaten in moderation, it can be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet but the problem lies in understanding how to include this delicacy as part of your intake.

For me, its hard to include a whole pizza into my daily calorific needs unless i don’t eat much all day which is VERY unlikely because i like to eat regularly throughout the day. So, this really takes away those pizza cravings without the added calories (or guilt).

If this is you too, then heres how to:

1. Prepare your base.

You can make your base with egg whites (as i did) or with eggs like you would a normal omelette. I just choose to do it with egg whites only (because I would much rather have all the fat content from cheese).

In an oven-safe pan make your omelette, leave it cooking on medium heat until cooked through without flipping it over. Then remove from heat and move to step 2.

2. Choose your sauce.

Here we used some Biona Passata sauce which we had left over from some pasta but i like using tomato puree or zero bbq sauce (when i don’t fancy tomato). There is no wrong way about it, just use whatever you like and get creative!

Pour the sauce over your omelette base, and before you move to step 3… pre-heat oven to 180 Degrees C.

3. Topping time!

We used fresh spinach leaves, turkey slices and cheddar but you can make any variation you like. The only thing you have to be wary of is the cheese! Its easy to overdo it so make sure you weight out a decent portion rather than loading it on. This was just 40g grated cheddar and it was more than enough. I prefer using Mozzarella, it melts better and imo, is much nicer + has a better nutritional content… but we were out and had to improvise.


Pack your toppings onto the sauced omelette base and proceed to step 4.

4. Bake it!

Now, this part might get you by surprise but you’ll need to bake it in the pan! Yes, just as it is… put the pan with your ready made pizza omelette and bake until your cheese is deliciously melted and golden.

5. ENJOY!

You’ll have to wait for it too cool a little bit, then transfer onto a plate and BOOM, omelette pizza. Ready to satisfy your cravings!



Honestly, don’t diss this recipe until you try it! Everyone who has tried it, has loved it – especially as it means you can enjoy ‘pizza’ more often than not.

Heres the exact recipe:

Ingredients:
200g Egg whites (approx 5-6 egg whites)*
40g Tomato passata
100g turkey slices (chopped)
30g Spinach leaves (chopped)
40g Light Cheddar cheese
1 Tsp oregano
1 Tsp olive oil
Sprinkle of salt

*I hadn’t had much protein all day and needed to make up for it so packed on the egg whites, you don’t need to use this much.

Method:
Add olive oil to a med-large pan and heat on med heat.

Once oil is hot, add egg whites and leave to cook as mentioned in STEP 1.

Pre-heat oven to 180 Degrees C. Add sauce to omelette base, then toppings, oregano and salt. Alternatively you can add the salt to the omelette while cooking.

Bake in oven (in the pan) until cheese melts and is deliciously golden.

The beauty of this recipe is that you can get really creative and make it suit your exact taste preferences – no matter how wild.

Don’t forget to tag or share. We love to see 🙂

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Recipe: Choc Chunk Cookies 🍪 (Gluten-Free)

Nothing says I love you like warm, freshly baked cookies.

I dont really need an excuse to bake, in fact I am a THE biggest procrastibaker – will bake/ cook before doing anything that needs done round the house (or in life). So, instead of doing something productive I decided to make freshly baked cookies to greet my boyfriend when he got back from work. Logical right?

They turned out to be the best healthified cookie recipe I have made to date sooooo no regrets! 😛

Try them yourself:

Ingredients:
150g Cashew butter
(or any alternative – I just like the taste of cashew in cookies)
50g Ground almonds/ almond flour*
20g Whey protein powder
(Any you prefer will be fine. I alternate between Combat Cookie or Bulk Vanilla).
25g Brown sugar**
15g Xylitol (or preferred granulated sweetener)
1/2 Tsp Baking powder
1 Tsp melted coconut oil
1 Tsp vanilla extract / flavouring
2 Egg Whites
Chocolate chunks of choice (I used some chocolate that was still lingering in the cupboard from xmas which is Morrisons Cookie Milk Chocolate. Chopped it into chunks and was perfect – just use whichever you like best.)

* If you don’t have ground almonds I would suggest ground oats, however almonds will give you a MUCH better texture for cookies, oats will dry up more.
** You can omit the sugar and replace with granulated sweetener but the brown sugar will give it the perfect cookie texture (crispier on the outside) + perfect taste. Alternatively, use coconut sugar.

Ive created a shopping list on iherb with all the products needed for this recipe if you prefer buying it online, remember to use code: JCB887 for exclusive discounts.

Method: Line a baking tray with greaseproof baking paper and pre-heat oven to 170 Degrees C.

In a bowl, combine your dry ingredients then fold in wet ingredients leaving chocolate chunks for last. Place in freezer for 10 minutes – this will help roll the cookies onto the baking paper.



With a tablespoon, grab a spoonful and roll into a ball with your hands then place onto baking sheet. Repeat until all mix is used.

Dip fingers into a tiny bit of water and flatten/ shape your cookies.


Bake for approximately 10 minutes (until cookies have began to go golden brown around the edges).

Leave to cool completely.
Recipe yielded approx 12 cookies.

Enjoy with (or without) the boyfriend but definitely with a nice cup of tea or coffee.
Each cookie was approx 137cals / 8F / 9.8C / 5P (and I piled on the milk choc in this one, so play around with the amounts and you can get even better macros!)

Don’t forget to tag us if you try it 🙂

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Recipe: Better than Snickers spread 🍯

Promise, better than Snickers (branded) peanut butter spread…not that it would be hard to make a better one.

I was SO disappointed in the lack of flavour, you would never think a trusted brand like Mars Company would get this sooooo wrong. Its meant to be a caramel flavoured peanut butter with chocolate pieces BUT it tastes of neither. How is that even possible? At first I rated it a 5/10 but it doesn’t even get that… its a 1/10.

I wanted to re-create the spread using supermarket products, so that you could get the same (more flavourful) edition at the same price.



You will need:
1 Jar (label optional)
60g Dates (pitted)
1 Tbsp agave nectar
1 Tsp oil of choice (I used olive oil because coconut oil solidifies, however you can use any you like. You can also add more oil if you’d like to make the spread creamier)
400g Natural peanut butter (100% peanuts)
100g Milk chocolate spread
For a vegan alternative use this one by Plamil.
Sprinkle of salt

Method:
First you have to soak dates in boiling water until they soften. Then, in a high speed blender (or using a hand held blender) blitz together with 100g of peanut butter, agave, oil and sprinkle of salt.

Pour into a bowl and mix together with a spoonful of chocolate spread.

Grab your jar and layer the date mix, chocolate spread and peanut butter until all peanut butter is used up.

Mix slightly and done!


To make this recipe, the cost was approx £3-£3.50 which is the same price as the Snickers spread. Alternatively you can omit the dates… even the natural peanut butter with chocolate spread is still nicer 😆

My spread went a bit pasty overnight, this is normal due to the dates – you can blend or mix in more oil and it will go creamy again.

Hope you enjoy it, try not eat it by the spoonful!
Don’t forget to tag/ share if you make it 🙂

Recipe: Healthy Chicken Goujons (Gluten-Free)🍗

KFC got nothing on this.


Honestly though, these were SO good! Reminded me of the KFC chicken tenders – dipped in bbq sauce. Except these were nicer! (obviously) and you would never tell they are baked instead of fried. Will happily bet on your kids/ husband/ boyfriend/ girlfriend/ bff/ parent/ grandchild approving this one.

Heres how I made them:

Ingredients:
For chicken marinade:
600g Chicken breast (sliced into strips)
1 Oxo Chicken stock cube (or alternative but i like the taste of oxo)
1 Tbsp Garlic and herb seasoning
1 Tbsp Smoked salt
2 Tbsp Olive oil
For batter:
50g Ground almonds
200g Gluten-free breadcrumbs*
1 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
1 Tsp Smoked salt
3 Egg whites

*Gluten-Free breadcrumbs are usually made up of dried corn, so if you don’t have any handy or can find none at the supermarket you can blitz some cornflakes in a high speed blender, or even tortilla chips (doritos if you’re feeling crazy) as they too are made of corn.

Method: First, you’ll need to marinate your chicken strips. In a bowl, mix chicken with marinade ingredients. For the oxo cube you will have to dissolve it in a bit of boiling water and pour it in. I like to do this ahead of time, say in the morning for an evening meal so the chicken really soaks up the flavours. Alternatively, if you forgot to marinate ahead of time – make sure you leave it at least half an hour minimum marinating.


Once your marinated chicken is ready, prepare a baking tray with greaseproof paper and pre-heat oven to 170 Degrees C.

Grab two bowls, in one add your egg whites and in the other mix the rest of your batter ingredients.


Then, strip by strip dip chicken into egg white mix, then batter mix and place on lined baking sheet. Repeat until all strips are coated.


Note: In this recipe i made half of the chicken and kept the rest for the next day. Half the recipe yielded approx 18 strips.

Bake for 20-25 minutes (different ovens may vary) until chicken is crispy and golden.


*HEART EYES*

They were so good that we ate ALL 18 STRIPS haha, the first few in a salad as seen in pic and then the rest dipped in bbq sauce.

Like I said, willing to bet on EVERYONE loving these!

Don’t forget to share your recipe making with us, we love to see! 🙂

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